Golden State Warriors hold off Washington Wizards

WASHINGTON -- The Warriors played poorly. They turned the ball over too much, settled for too many jumpers and had too many defensive lapses.

And none of it matters. Because with Saturday's 101-97 victory over the Washington Wizards, the Warriors are off to their best start since the 1991-92 season.

Golden State (13-7) has won six of its last seven games and improved to 3-0 on the seven-game trip. The last time the Warriors won seven of their first 11 road games in a season was 1993.

"We've got good momentum right now," point guard Stephen Curry said after totaling 22 points, five assists and four turnovers. "The team's playing well. We're finding all sorts of different ways to win."

Saturday's way was perhaps the least attractive this season. Warriors coach Mark Jackson said he expected a struggle because the Warriors were coming off an emotional, draining win at Brooklyn the night before.

Plus, the Wizards -- owners of the league's worst record at 2-15 -- were missing their best players, a cast of injured highlighted by point guard John Wall (left knee stress) and swingman Trevor Ariza (left calf injury). The Verizon Center wasn't as sparse as it has been over the years, but its atmosphere certainly didn't help boost the Warriors' energy.

Golden State's play reflected the circumstances. The Warriors committed 19 turnovers and took just 27 of their 81 shots in the paint (which led to a season-low 22 points in the paint). They didn't come close to matching the energy and execution exhibited in Friday's win at Brooklyn.

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"I knew the guys were tired because I was tired this morning," Jackson said. "At the end of the day, they made plays, they made shots. But we found a way to put together a string of stops, a string of possessions offensively where we executed and made plays. Just another big-time victory for us."

David Lee had 24 points and 17 rebounds for the Warriors, and Klay Thompson chipped in with 23 points on 8-of-14 shooting, including 5 for 9 on 3-pointers.

In what's becoming a characteristic of this team, the Warriors buckled down when they had to and made the necessary plays to win.

"We definitely knew what was at stake," said backup guard Charles Jenkins, who scored six of the 29 bench points. "These are normally the games that slip away coming off big games. ... I think we did a good job collectively of making great plays at the end even though we didn't do so well in the beginning."

Things got interesting down the stretch. The second of two consecutive Jordan Crawford 3-pointers cut the Warriors' lead to 95-92 inside a minute left. The lead was down to a point after rookie guard Bradley Beal nailed a 3-pointer with 8.8 seconds left. Curry responded with two free throws to push Golden State's lead back to three.

Golden State fouled intentionally to prevent a game-tying 3-pointer, sending Beal to the line with 4.2 seconds left. After he made the first one, he missed the second one intentionally. Somehow, he got his own rebound and, with two seconds left, had a good look at a game-tying layup. But rookie center Festus Ezeli got a piece of it.

Carl Landry came up with the loose ball and sealed the game with two free throws. Once again, the Warriors had done what victory required.

The Warriors now head to Charlotte (7-12) with a chance to secure a winning trip. Victory would also give them eight road wins, equaling their total from last season.

"Our team is going into these games and believing we're going to win," Lee said. "We just have to see how the game shakes out, and different guys are stepping up every single night. We're trying to just believe in one another, get stops and get rebounds. It's working out well so far."

The Warriors out-rebounded the Wizards 57-37 and are 12-1 when they win the rebounding battle. The last time the Warriors out-rebounded a team by 20 was Feb. 13, 2005, against Phoenix. ... Golden State is now 10-0 when entering the fourth quarter with a lead. ... The Warriors are 7-1 against the Eastern Conference, the only defeat coming at home to Orlando. ... Lee grabbed his 5,000th career rebound Saturday and Landry scored his 4,000th point.